Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer
- Farm Business Management: business planning
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems
Proposal abstract:
In the PNW, organizations like Rogue Farm Corps, Headwaters Incubator Farm, and Extension programs offer instruction in sustainable farming. However, no organization comprehensively addresses the business decisions needed to scale up small agricultural enterprises. Our Coalition of 200+ farmers who practice small-scale, diversified farming, consistently report an absence of resources to help them make critical business decisions. Common examples include understanding laws around hiring labor, providing employee benefits, and finding financial and legal professionals that understand the unique challenges of diversified, direct-to-consumer agriculture.
In 2022, these farms generated $24 million in locally consumed food, benefiting our communities and local economy. Yet, this intensive farming often leads to high farmer burnout, with over half of them closing within 6 years. Key reasons include job dissatisfaction, managing too much with limited resources, and handling administrative tasks beyond their expertise. Our project aims to address these challenges and promote farm business sustainability.
This project enhances the farming community quality of life by 1) identifying farmers’ critical business needs and existing gaps, 2) developing resources and solutions to address those needs, 3) establishing a peer-to-peer network to communicate experiences and share best practices, and 4) facilitating opportunities for farmers to obtain and implement these solutions. By strengthening the business capabilities of PNW farmers, the number of sustainable farms thriving beyond 6 years of operation will increase, promoting biome stewardship: "Our environmentally sensitive and direct to consumer farmers are only sustainable if they can keep running their farm businesses year after year." (SARE grant ONC23-118)
Project objectives from proposal:
Through participation in the peer-to-peer communication framework and access to our resource database, we aim to achieve specific outcomes enhancing farmers' quality of life, bolstering their financial resilience, and fostering the growth of small sustainable farms for responsible land stewardship. As emphasized in SARE grant project ONC23-118, "Sustainable direct-to-consumer farmers thrive by sustaining their farm businesses year after year."
Research Objectives
Objective 1: Using a farmer-centered approach, perform needs assessment: on which business decisions do farmers need the most assistance to sustainably scale their operations?
We will collaborate with a core team of farmers (the project Producers) who have experience scaling up their operations, to develop surveys, and facilitate focus groups and listening sessions to identify our regional farmers’ most pressing business challenges.
Objective 2: Synthesize data and develop curriculum materials to respond to the greatest business needs as determined in Objective 1.
Quantitative and qualitative data analyses will be conducted on the information collected in Objective 1. Each identified topic will be investigated by cataloging best-known-methods, interviewing farmers and agricultural professionals, and identifying professionals that can lead information sessions and trainings, among other potential outcomes.
Objective 3: Design educational series to communicate findings in effective and accessible format.
Farmers have reported “webinar fatigue”, reluctance to wade through uninformative websites, and frustration with “waiting on hold for hours” to get answers specific to agricultural questions. Using information gleaned in Objective 1), the Farmer Core Team will assist in applying SARE’s “Sustainable Agriculture through Sustainable Learning” best practices to develop educational formats and delivery approaches that our farmers are most likely to consume. These are anticipated to include such formats as peer-to-peer learning circles, working sessions with professional advisors, panel discussions, training sessions, and development of a resource library.
Education objectives:
Objective 1: Create a farmer-friendly resource library to archive learnings.
Housed on the existing PNWCSA “Farmer Resource” website, this will allow for the findings of this project to be accessible to all agricultural professionals.
Objective 2: Facilitate the peer-to-peer learning network.
Led by the Farmer Core Team, a peer-to-peer learning network will be established amongst agricultural stakeholders. By hosting in-person events on their farms, and communicating through a listserv, farmers growing their businesses will interact with each other and share their experiences, providing educational and social support for their fellow farmers.
Objective 3: Increase knowledge and understanding of business decision making among farmers.
PNWCSA and the Farmer Core Team will offer a series of educational sessions and workshops addressing needs identified in Research Objective 1. Delivery method and pedagogy will be aligned to specific topics to maximize value and accessibility.
Objective 4: Empower more farmers to make better-informed business decisions, improving their economic well-being and quality of life.
Through attending educational sessions, having access to materials in the resource library, and being part of a peer-to-peer learning network, farmers will be equipped to make higher-quality business decisions in a more efficient manner.